She sheds a wicked grin to Skyla. “Then I guess neither of us get to play.”
Laken takes a step in close to the monster. “This is your big wedding gift to Skyla, isn’t it? She gets true love. You throw a tantrum. You want all the attention for yourself.Look at me,” she teases. “Well, we’re looking at you. And sadly you’ve just disqualified yourself as being worthy of our attention. You could have had equal play with Skyla. If that’s what she promised, that’s what you would have received.”
Chloe grits her teeth. “Only in as much as I agreed to every move she made. What kind of a say is that?”
“Chloe”—Skyla takes a ragged breath—“if you didn’t agree, then I would try to see things from your angle. And if you weren’t right, I wouldn’t go with it. I’m not going to be bullied into something I know isn’t good for the Factions, but apparently you are.”
Chloe takes a quick breath because she knows she’s been bested.
She leans in hard, so close to Skyla that I put my hand between them in the event either one of them wants to get physical.
“I did this for you,” Chloe grits it through her teeth. “Your people were already losing faith. Rory did that. She made sure you looked like an asshole. I simply explained why. Because I knew you wouldn’t.” She bumps into Laken’s shoulder as she speeds her way out of the facility.
And in true Chloe fashion, she leaves us all speechless.
Coop butts his knuckles up to his mouth, looking down at the ground as if trying to keep a flood of words from evicting.
Wes shoves him in the chest. “This is it, Flanders. Your time to shine. The newlyweds are here. You wanted to wait to gift them the greatest gift of all, here’s your shot.”
Laken presses a hand to Wesley’s chest. “Coop is not keeping anything from anyone.”
Wesley growls out a hint of a laugh. “Yes, he is, Laken. But he’s not keeping anything from me.”
Cooper’s chest pumps with a silent laugh as he looks to Wes. “You said you’d have the final call.”
“I’m giving it,” Wes spits the words out. “But this is your story to tell. And now everyone gets to hear it.”
Cooper looks as if he’s ready to bolt, to puke, and to rage all at once.
Without hesitating, I pull him in by the shirt. “Knew it. This ends here. Speak.” I give him a push as I let go. Chloe may have put me in a mood, but Coop isn’t exactly helping with the effort.
Cooper gives a quick look around as he takes a step back and sighs.
He nods to Skyla. “We should meet back at Whitehorse.”
“Okay,” she’s quick to agree. “I’ll call Brody and Ellis. Ezrina and Nev are already there. I can call Marshall, too.”
“No,” Coop says as he glances to Wes as if looking for approval. “Just us for now. Skyla, Logan, I want you to digest this before you tell anyone.”
Laken has sickles shooting from her eyes as she looks from Wes to Coop.
“How long have the two of you known about this?” The disappointment in her voice is palpable.
Wes sheds a shit-eating grin. “I squeezed it out of him a week ago. Your boy has known as far back as our wedding.” Wesley’s features soften to something just this side of sadness. “Laken, he used this information to get you back.” Wes groans as if it pained him as he staggers past us. “I’ll see you all at Whitehorse. You don’t start without me, Coop.”
Laken’s brows rise slowly. “Cooper Flanders, you played dirty.” She looks equally amused as she does angry. “In my heart, I still believe leaving Wes was my choice. But I didn’t just leave him because he wouldn’t switch celestial sides. I left him because I knew you were true in every sense of the word. Don’t prove me wrong, Cooper.” She blinks back tears as she heads out.
“Coop.” I slap a hand on his shoulder. “She’s just angry.”
His lips purse as he watches her walk out the door. “She’s about to get angrier.” He looks to Skyla and me. “And so are the two of you. I ask your forgiveness in advance.”
He takes off, and Skyla and I wrap our arms around one another.
“What in the hell is going on?” She gives me a quick squeeze.
“I don’t know. But I have a feeling everything is about to get flipped on its ear.”
We head back to Whitehorse and wait for the others to arrive.
